Sheet handling apparatus



Aug. 6, 1935. M. MANDUSIC SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Sept. ll, 19342 Sheets-Sheet l l7. Nandusi c Patented Aug. 6, 1935 UNITED STATESPATENT orrics SHEET HANDLING APPARATUS Mark Manduslc,

Grestline, Ohio, assignor of one.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in sheethandling and piling apparatus, and relates particularly to an improvedmechanism for handling sheets as they 5 are discharged from the coldrolls of the mill.

The primary object of the invention is an apparatus of this characterwhich will handle the sheets automatically and in such a manner as toobviate any liability of the sheets being 10 scratched or deformed, andwhich will entirely do away with the manual labor heretofore incidentalto the handling and piling of the sheets, the apparatus not onlyhandling the sheets better and more expeditiously than is possible byhand labor, but also effecting economies in dispensing with the costthat manual labor would involve.

A further object of the invention is an apparatus of this characterwhich is simple in construction, easyto adjust and manipulate withsheets of varying lengths and widths, and not liable to get out oforder.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the sheetsas they come into position over the piling station are gently loweredonto a supporting surface, the lowering means'being so constructed as tobe capable of lateral sliding movement to remove the lowering means fromengagement with the sheet without scratching or otherwise marring thesheet.

With these and other objects in view, aswili more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, reference is to be had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein Figure 1 is an end view of a sheet handling and pilingapparatus constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation in the nature of a sectional view on the line2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view illustrating one of the tripping rods andits concomitant parts, hereinafter specifically described.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end of one of the leverswhich is engaged by the tripping rods.

Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary plan view, on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, ofone of the sprocket operated sheet receiving devices, and

Fig. 6 is a similar view of one of the channeled bars that are adaptedto receive and temporarily hold the sheet as it comes from the coldrolls of the mill. 7

In carrying out my invention, I provide two vertically disposed framesin that are complemental one to the other and which are similarlyconstructed, so that a description of one will sumce for both. Eachframe I is preferably mounted upon a wheel-supported carriage Iidesigned to run upon rails I! that extend at right angles to thedirection of passage of the sheets to beihandled and made into a pilewhereby the two frames may be set and maintained at predetermineddistances apart, according to the width of the sheets being handled.

it designates a sheet receiving rail which is 10 channeled, as at II, toreceive the side edges of the sheets to be handled, and this rail 63 issupported by means of depending arms i l which are pivotally mountedintermediate of their ends, asat l5, upon brackets i8 carried by theframe Ill whereby the arms I and the channeled receiving bars which aresupported at their lower ends are permitted to swing laterally, as willbe hereinafter more specifically described. There are three arms I foreach frame, in the present instance, although it is to be understoodthat any other desired number may be employed.

The arms l4 are slotted at their upper ends, as at II, to receive andengage the preferably notched laterally extending ends it! ofhorizontally disposed levers l9 fulcrumed, as at 20, on brackets 2| thatare carried by the frame It and which project inwardly therefrom wherebya loose jointed connection is had between the arms l4 and the levers l9,as best illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. inwardly extending portions of thelevers l9 extend between blocks 22 that are secured in any desired wayupon a trip rod 23, and to the trip rod 23 is adjustably secured, bymeans of a set screw 24 or other connection, a trip finger 25 which isdesigned to be engaged by the front edge of the sheets 26 as they arereceived from the cold rolls of the mill and passed or transferred to myimproved sheet handling and piling mechanism. The trip rod 23 issupported by means of any desired number of guide members 23' adiustablymounted upon the upper longitudinally extending bar It of the frame In.

From so much of the description as has preceded in connection with theaccompanying drawings, it will be understood that as a sheet 26 passesthru the cold rolls 2! through a guide 28, the sheet will be receivedbetween feeding rollers 29 that may be driven by any desired means (notshown) as for example, waste power 56 derived from the cold roll motor,said rollers 29 passing the sheet into and between the channeledreceiving rails l3, carried by the frames III that are set facing eachother at the required distance apart according to the width of thesheet, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. The channels l3 of thereceiving .bars l3 are relatively narrow so that by engagement with theupper and lower faces of the sheet at the side edges thereof, the sheetis maintained level and precluding thepossibility of the sheet bucklingby its own weight and drawing its lateral edges out of the, channels. Ifthe channels are relatively wide and the sheet buckles, there is nothingto prevent said edges of the sheet from being withdrawn from thechannels, but by having the channels narrow, the edges of the sheet ifthe sheet buckles, will strike the upper walls of the channels and thusprevent the sheet from buckling so much as to fall out from thesupporting channels. As the sheet is thus passed into and between thereceiving bars l3 of the apparatus, its front edge eventually willstrike the depending trip fingers 25 whereupon, the continued movementof the sheet will move the rods 23 in a direction to swing the levers l9so as to move the upper ends of the arms I! inward and the lower ends ofthe arms ll outward, which manifestly will cause the channeled receivingbars l3 to release the sheet.

I shall now describe what happens to the sheet whenit is released fromthe complemental receiving rails of the apparatus, but first, let mepoint out the fact that each receiving rail I3 is formed at itsreceiving end with a flared portion l3 to insure the proper guidance ofthe sheet into the channels l3, and said rails are further formedintermediate of their ends with notches I 3 to accommodate verticallydisposed guide rods 30, of which there are three in number in thepresent instance, although any desired number may be employed, theseguide rods being supported by means of longitudinally extending bars 3|to which their upper ends are connected and extending downwardly fromthe said bars 3| in inwardly ofiset relation to the frames l6. Obviouslythe rods 30 are designed to insure the downward movement of the sheets26 in a proper plane whereby finally the sheets will be properly piledone upon the other and a practically perfect pile formed.

When a sheet 26 is automatically released by and from the receL -ringbars I 3, as hereinbefore described, it is caught at its side edges andrests upon longitudinally extending strips 32 that are connected by anydesired means to fingers 33, said fingers being pivotally carried by andforming parts of sprocket chains 34 mounted to pass over and aroundupper and lower sprockets 35 that are journaled in brackets 36 that arecarried by the frames III, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, andthese sprocket chains 34 are adapted to be driven preferably by electricmotors 31 run at the desired speed whereby the 'sheets are one after theother lowered gently upon a carriage or truck 38 on which they may bemoved away when a pile of desired size is formed.

The fingers 33 are pivotally mounted upon the chains 34 and are providedwith heel portions 38 whereby they may be freely turned in onedirection, but will be prevented from moving beyond a predeterminedpoint in the oppositedirection, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1,whereby it will be understood that as these fingers and their strips 32receive the sheets one after another from between the outwardly movedchanneled bars I3 they will be gently and easily lowered upon thecarriage 38 one upon the other, the pivotal mounting of the fingers 33permitting them to slide or gently strip themselves from the side edgesof the sheet as it is laid upon the pile whereby all liability ofscratching or otherwise injuring the sheet is avoided.

It will be seen that by pivotally mounting the fingers 33 upon thechains 34, and providing the stops 39, that the fingers willsuccessively fall over into the horizontal position beneath and closelyadjacent to the channeled rails l3, so that when the channeled rails areshifted away from each other the sheet will drop only a short distanceand landing upon the strips 32 carried by the fingers; that the fingerswill then move downward until the fingers strike the upper face of theuppermost sheet of the pile of sheets on the truck 38, and that then theinner end of the finger moves with the chain 34, and that the fingerthus will be gradually withdrawn from beneath the margin of the sheetand the sheet gently deposited upon the pile of sheets. On the otherhand if there are no sheets previously piled upon the truck 38 or only avery few sheets, the fingers 33 will move downward until a position isreached wherein the sheet 26 is in proximity to the upper face of thetruck 38 and then the fingers will move downward and outward letting thesheet slide gradually downward and eventually dropping the sheet a shortdistance onto the truck 38. It will, of course, be understood that themotors 31 are to be run in synchronism with each other so that thefingers 33- will always be properly opposed and in line with each other,and that the speed of the motors will be correlated with the speed ofthe feeding rolls so as to bring a pair of fingers beneath the lateraledges of the sheet just before the rails l3 are moved outward to dropthe sheet upon the fingers.

As clearly illustrated in Fig. 5, the strips 32 are notched, as at 32 soas to accommodate the guide rods 30, hereinbefore mentioned.

Preferably each of the receiving bars I3 is formed not only at itsreceiving end with a flared mouth I3 but at each notch I3 with acorresponding flare l3 just in the rear of one of the guide rods 38.This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very simple, durable, andefiicient construction of sheet handling and piling apparatus which maybe very easily and efficiently operated at a minimum of cost, and whichwill properly handle metal sheets and make them into a perfect pileautomatically and without any liability of their becoming scratched,deformed, or otherwise injured.

The trip fingers 25 are held in an adjustable manner on the rods 23, ashereinbefore stated. This is necessary so that the positions of the tripfingers may be varied and they may be fastened to the rods at differentpoints along the rods according to the length of the sheets to behandled. The apparatus is thus capable of handling sheets of varioussizes, the widths of the sheets being compensated for by the adjustmentof the prising confronting frames, depending arms pivotally mountedintermediate of their ends and supported by said frames in the spacebetween the latter for lateral movement, sheet receiving rails securedto the lower ends of said arms, trip fingers, means for feeding sheetsto said rails and into engagement with said trip fingers, leversfulcrumed intermediate of their ends and carried by said frames abovesaid rails, rods carrying said trip fingers and engaged by the innerends of said levers, and a jointed connection between the other ends ofsaid levers and the upper ends of said depending arms, as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. A sheet handling and piling apparatus comprising confronting frames,laterally swinging arms carried by said frames in the space between thelatter, sheet-receiving rails secured to the lower ends of said arms,means for feeding sheets to said rails, tripping devices actuated by thesheets as they are fed to said rails for automatically moving said railsin a direction to release the sheets, and receiving means for saidsheets including sprocket chains, fingers carried by said chains andhaving limited movement in one direction, and strips carried by saidfingers and adapted to receive the sheets one after another upon therelease of the sheets from said rails.

3. A sheet handling and piling apparatus comprising confronting frames,laterally swinging arms carried by said frames in the space between thelatter, sheet receiving rails secured to the lower ends of said arms,means for feeding sheets to said rails, tripping devices actuated by thesheets as they are fed to said rails for automatically moving said railsin a direction to release the sheets, and receiving means for saidsheets including a plurality of longitudinally extending strips, fingerscan'ying said strips, sprocket chains carrying said fingers, the latterhaving a limited movement in one direction, and means for moving saidchains to carry the fingers successively beneath the sheet receivingrails, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. A sheet handling and piling apparatus comprising ccnfronting frames,laterally swinging arms carried by said frames and mounted in the spacebetween the latter, sheet-receiving rails carried by said arms, meansfor feeding sheets to said rails, trip fingers, longitudinally extendingrods upon which the trip fingers are adjustably held, said rods beingmovably supported by said frames, levers fulcrumed on said frames andengageable with said rods to be moved by the latter, and a jointedconnection between said levers and the depending arms at the upper endof the latter, said rails being longitudinally channeled, the channelsbeing flared at their receiving ends.

5. A sheet handling and piling apparatus comprising confronting frames,laterally swinging arms carried by said frames, and mounted in the spacebetween the latter, sheet-receiving rails carried by said arms, meansfor feeding sheets to said rails, trip fingers, longitudinally extendingrods upon which the trip fingers are adjustably held, said rods beingmovably supported by said frames, levers fulcrumed on said frames andengageable with said rods to be moved by the latter, a jointedconnection between said levers and the depending arms at the upper endof the latter, said rails being longitudinally channeled, the channelsbeing flared at their receiving ends; and vertically disposed guide rodscarried by said frames, the rails being notched to accommodate saidguide rods.

6. A sheet handling and piling apparatus comprising confronting frames,means for supporting said frames for movement toward or from each otherto accommodate different widths of sheets, laterally movable sheetreceiving rails supported by said frames in the space between theframes, means for feeding the sheets into said space onto said rails,and means for automatically shifting said rails away from each other topermit the sheets to drop including longitudinally extending shaftscarried by the frames, trip fingers extending radially from said shaftsat the rear ends of the frames, and a jointed connection between saidtrip fingers and the supports for said rails adapted to move the railsaway from each other and release the sheets upon'the engagement of asheet with said trip fingers, the fingers being mounted upon said shaftsfor swinging movement toward or from each other to accommodate sheets ofdifferent widths and compensate for adjustments between the two frames.

7. A sheet handling and piling apparatus ineluding confronting frames,channeled sheet re 7 ceiving rails carried by said frames for lateralmovement toward or from each other, vertical guide bars operativelysupported upon said frames, the rails being outwardly slotted atintervals to accommodate said guide bars, means for feeding the'sheetsinto the channels of said bars, and means disposed opposite thereceiving ends of the frames in the path of movement of the sheets andacting when engaged by said sheets to shift the rails away from eachother to thereby release the sheet supported by said rails and permit itto drop between said guide rods, the rails acting by gravity to returnthe trip means to its initial position.

